A last minute appeal by Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan for a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was turned down yesterday.
The appeal was made after Pillayan’s Tamil Makkal Vidudhalai Pulikal (TMVP) rejected an Indian offer for a meeting with Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon.
A TMVP delegation led by Pillayan had wanted to meet Premier Singh. Although Indian officials had originally wanted to schedule a meeting with the Indian Premier it was not done for unexplained reasons. They had thus offered the meeting with Mr. Menon.
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| Chief Minister Chandrakanthan |
Chief Minister Chandrakanthan told The Sunday Times he had sought a meeting with the Indian premier, using various channels but had received a negative reply, He said he was saddened at this attitude since there were so many issues that needed to be discussed.
He said no proper reason was given for the refusal but did not rule out possible sabotage from a third party or parties.
To make matters worse for Mr. Chandrakanthan, the Indian Premier, however, agreed to meet Eastern Provincial Council Minister M. L. A. M. Hisbullah. He was accommodated in the capacity of a representative of the All Ceylon Muslim Congress.
Dr. Singh also held meetings with leaders from the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the Tamil Democratic Congress (TDC) and the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP). Of these parties, the TDC does not have a parliament or provincial council representation.
The TMVP sources said they had been confident that Dr. Singh would agree to a meeting with Mr. Chandrakanthan for more than one reason, since some of India’s largest economic interests in Sri Lanka such as the oil storage tanks in Trincomalee and the proposed multi-billion rupee coal power project in Sampur are based in the East which comes under his purview.
Indian High Commission spokesman Dinkar Asthana told The Sunday Times he did not want to make any comment about the matter.
The Indian premier’s refusal is also seen as an embarrassment to the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration which is a staunch supporter of the Eastern Province Chief Minister.
President Rajapaksa in his keynote speech at the opening of the SAARC summit yesterday drew reference to Mr. Chandrakanathan, saying a former child soldier was now the chief minister of the Eastern province where terrorism had been defeated and democracy restored.
“This indeed is a unique transformation within a short span of one year”, he said. TNA parliament group leader R. Sampanthan said that in their talks with the Indian premier, they gave details of the current situation in the north-east, human rights violations and extra judicial killings.
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